


gold, rubies, and diamonds

by doggo_fiends_on_a_spaceship



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Abrupt Ending, Fluff, Happy Ending, Honesty, M/M, Missing Scene, Nervous Magnus, Post-Episode: s01e09 Rise Up, jace is a bit rude but he's dealing with his own shit right now, magnus rambles a bit when he's nervous, takes place somewhere between episode 12 and 13 of season 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-05 07:21:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11008665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doggo_fiends_on_a_spaceship/pseuds/doggo_fiends_on_a_spaceship
Summary: Magnus tells Alec about stealing his stele.(In the same vein as my other work, "pro bono".)





	gold, rubies, and diamonds

**Author's Note:**

> I thought it was kind of weird they just skated over Magnus blatantly lying to Alec and going behind his back to steal his stele, something that nearly resulted in Isabelle getting stripped of her runes?  
> (Not that I don't understand why he did it, I just think he and Alec should talk about it.)
> 
> Soo.... here's them actually talking about it

 

 

When Jace Wayland knocked at his door (after a long day of work, mind you) Magnus couldn't say he was too pleased.

He wondered what they needed now. As much as he wanted to help them all, a break would be nice every once in a while. Or a  _thank you._

"What is it, blondie?" he asked as he opened the door to let the shadowhunter step in, keeping his tone as bored and disinterested as possible.

"Your payment," Jace said, rolling his eyes and shoving past. He pulled a bag from his jacket pocket, tipping it over so some of the contents fell into his palm. Some valuable stones, a few gold chains and necklaces. "Gold, rubies, and diamonds. Valuable jewels. Whatever."

"For what, again?" Magnus asked. He hadn't put up any new wards lately, and if he had, he wouldn't gotten the payment from Jace. He would've gotten it from the Head of the Institute.

"For  _stealing Alec's stele,_ " Jace hissed, almost under his breath as if afraid of being heard.

Magnus stilled. He would've found Jace's whispering amusing if not for the thoughts currently racing through his head. He looked at the jewels for a long moment, then sighed. He waved a hand, turning away. "Keep them," he said. 

It felt wrong, taking them. Dirty.

On one hand, he damn well deserved to get paid for his hard work, and not get ripped off by stingy shadowhunters who thought he was below them.

On the other hand, stealing the stele had minimal effort for a shared goal.  _And_ a goal that involved going behind Alexander's back.

_And Alec can never know._

_That's a given._

That was the worst part.

It was small, but it was unarguably a betrayal. And a secret- a lie- that Alec still didn't know about.

Magnus didn't really want payment for lying to his boyfriend. 

"What do you mean, _keep them_ _?"_ Jace asked, sounding irritated.

Magnus sighed. "What it sounded like, shadowhunter. Keep your stupid jewels."

Magnus didn't even like rubies. 

(He also didn't like bribes, and that's what this felt like.)

Jace rolled his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me," he said under his breath. Then, louder: "So, what, you just changed your mind?"

"I was once told I'm as changeable as the sea," Magnus said loftily, hoping to distract.

It worked. Jace had other things on his mind than the warlock's odd behavior.

"Whatever, man," he said, scooping the jewels back into the bag and pocketing it. He headed back towards the door. "I'll save 'em for next time you do us a favor, yeah?"

He left before Magnus could snap back a retort, bristling at the assumption. He sighed once the door was closed and Jace was down the stairs, putting his fingers to the bridge of his nose. Shadowhunters were exhausting.

He thought back to the stele, stealing it for Jace and Clary. So they could get the Mortal Cup.

He'd done it for good reasons. He'd done it to protect downworlders. His people. He'd done it to keep the Cup out of the hands of the Clave. They were almost as bad as Valentine, and as much as he cared for Alec, Alec was still very much a shadowhunter. A loyal one.

But then where did it leave them? With Isabelle on trial and Alec engaged.

He didn't really feel comfortable keeping something like this from Alec. Even if it didn't seem like a big deal at first, it kind of was. Because of something Magnus had done, Isabelle could have been stripped of her runes, or even killed.

And he'd long since learned that trusting your partner, and being trusted, was always best, especially at the beginning of a relationship. And he and Alec- their relationship was blooming into something beautiful. And Magnus didn't want to lose it to a lie. 

Lies had a way of always coming out into the open. And Magnus refused to let Alec find out about this on anything more than his own terms.

Right.

So it was settled.

Magnus was going to tell him.

..... _fuck._

Magnus really didn't want to fuck this up. He really liked Alec. He hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said that Alec had unlocked something in him.  

He really hoped this didn't ruin anything.

He wasn't sure he would be able to take it if it did.

 

**\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

 

Their date was going well so far.

So well.

Magnus was loathe to ruin it...

...but he had to, didn't he?

Sigh.

They were currently sharing takeout from their favorite Ethiopian place, a movie Magnus had seen a hundred times playing the background. Alec was watching intently, apparently enjoying the story.

"Alexander," Magnus said suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence between them. Alec turned to him, expression open and happy. 

"Yeah?"

Magnus paused the movie with a flick of his fingers and shifted slightly, nervous. "I need to tell you something," he said, a little too quickly for his own liking.

Alec blinked. "Uh... okay. I'm listening." He put down his food and shifted so his whole body was facing Magnus.

Magnus felt even more nervous now.

"I stole your stele," Magnus blurted out. "Clary and Jace asked for my help after you planned to give Lydia the Cup, and I certainly didn't want the Clave to have the Cup, but I didn't want to betray your trust, either, and-"

"Magnus," Alec said, keeping his voice soft.

"-not to mention that I wasn't sure what to do after Meliorn, but I still went behind your back-"

"Magnus," Alec tried again, but Magnus didn't seem to hear, his eyes trained on his hands. His fingers were picking at his rings, never staying still.

"-and Isabelle went on trial because of what we did, she could have been-"

" _Magnus,_ " Alec said a little louder, catching Magnus's fidgeting hands. Alec's larger palms cupped his hands gently, Alec himself leaning closer. "Magnus, it's alright."

As much as he hated seeing his boyfriend uncomfortable and- and  _afraid,_ he had to admit (in the privacy of his own thoughts) that Magnus was rather cute when he rambled.

Magnus finally quieted, looking small and nervous. "I just didn't want to keep secrets from you," he said helplessly.

"Magnus, it's okay," Alec said, squeezing his hands gently. "I... I kind of guessed it was you already."

"W..what?"

"It wasn't hard," Alec pointed out. "There aren't very many people who could've done it without being detected, and you were hanging around the room a little suspiciously."

Magnus silently conceded that point.

"And, your excuse was... a little flimsy," Alec chuckled, looking down at their entwined hands for a moment. When he looked back up, his eyes were glinting with humor. "You were sort of... appraising the wall? Something about finishing up with fixing the wards, completely randomly in the middle of the Institute, and it just so  _happened_ to be right outside my room."

Magnus flushed slightly, but couldn't help but laugh a little. It had been a pretty lame excuse, but Alec had seemed to buy it at the time, so he hadn't dwelled much on it. "I've had worse excuses," Magnus said, thinking back to some of his adventures with Ragnor and Catarina.

That made him a little sadder, suddenly being hit again with the fact that Ragnor was gone.

"I'd love to hear some of those stories," Alec teased. "I can't imagine what you must've said."

"I have to think fast," he protested, but he was smiling now. The heavy worry that had been weighing down his chest was lightened now- not quite gone, but... better. The grief of Ragnor's death was lessened when he was around people he cared about.

There was a moment of surprisingly comfortable silence. Alec was still holding his hands.

After a moment, he shifted closer again, his expression a little more serious. "I understand why you didn't say anything," Alec said. "You have your people to worry about to, and... our relationship was fairly new. But..."

Magnus's heart quickened a bit.  _But_ was never a good sign, was it? 

"...but I really appreciate you telling me," Alec said, lips quirking up again. "A lot, actually."

Magnus couldn't help feel thrown off by this.

"You're honest with me," Alec continued. "It's one of things I like about you. You've never really deceived me." 

"But I did," Magnus said softly. "I lied to you."

"Because you thought you had to," Alec shrugged. "If I'd realized right away, I might have been mad. But it doesn't matter. You came clean. You were honest."

"What about Isabelle?" Magnus challenged, wondering why he was pushing this. "She could have been stripped of her runes."

"And she wasn't, because of you." Alec countered.

"Because of Lydia," he corrected.

"Because of _you,_ " Alec said. "You changed Lydia's mind. You defended Isabelle in front of all those shadowhunters. And for free."

"For your bow and quiver," Magnus said, raising an eyebrow.

"Which you gave back to me immediately," Alec pointed out. "And I'm pretty sure you put a protection spell on it, too."

So Alec had noticed that, huh?

"Yes, I did," Alec said, sounding amused.

Oh. Magnus had said that out loud.

"Yes, you did," Alec said, sounding more amused.

Shit.

Magnus wasn't sure why he was pushing this so hard.

No, that's not true.

He was pushing it because he felt guilty. He felt like he deserved some sort of punishment.

"How are you so forgiving?" he asked Alec softly, looking him in the eyes for the first time since the beginning of this conversation.

"There's nothing to forgive," Alec whispered. He leaned in closer, one hand slipping from Magnus's to cup his face. "It was a small, stupid thing, and you've more than made up for it."

Magnus didn't know what to say. He didn't even know why this was upsetting him so much.

Magnus had always been sensitive on the topic of trust and honesty, especially after how Camille had mangled his heart. He always felt it to be very important not to lie to your partner unless it was absolutely necessary- he never wanted to be like Camille, a deceiver and manipulator, doing things behind his back.

"But if you need to hear the words," Alec continued, voice unbearably gentle as he got closer and closer, his lips almost touching Magnus's, his breath brushing Magnus's face-

He kissed Magnus, sweet and short, then pulled away just long enough to say, _"I forgive you."_

But Alec had forgiven him, just like that.

And then Alec was kissing him again, and Magnus was kissing back eagerly, feeling Alec's hand on his face, his other arm slowly sliding around Magnus's waist. Magnus's own hands went to skate up Alec's back, pulling him closer.

Gradually, he pushed Magnus back on the couch, crawling on top of him and kissing him deeply. Magnus made a content, happy noise against his lips as he sunk into the cushions, Alec's warm weight pressing him down. 

The takeout lay forgotten on the table, growing cold, the movie still paused in the background.

They were too lost in each other to care.

And here, in Alec's arms, Magnus felt safe and cared for, and that was worth more than all the valuable jewels in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not extremely satisfied with how ragnor's death was touched upon, because i don't think that adequately displays the kind of grief he'd be feeling, but that originally wasn't supposed to be in this at all, it just sort of happened... so i let it go. for now.  
> also not to pleased with the ending- is it a bit rushed? i think it is. but i also am not sure how to make it better. maybe i'll come back and edit this at some point, idk
> 
> i am @doggo-fiends-on-a-spaceship on tumblr if you wanna hang upside down like a bat next to me or something


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